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Redshirt freshman quarterback Will Collins is making his first career start at New Mexico.

Every player that’s dared buckled a chinstrap dreams of their moment.

All it takes is one of these instances to turn games, make careers — or in the most special of cases — send a team on trajectory from also-ran to winner.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Donald Louis had his moment in ULM’s 40-34 win over Texas State. Except he didn’t know it at the time.

Louis’ sack/fumble gave the ball back to the Warhawks at a critical juncture and led to a touchdown. The magnitude of what that meant in the broader context wasn’t apparent until Louis was approached on the sideline by one of ULM’s veterans.

“Do you know what you just did,” he asked Louis.

“No.”

“You turned the game for us.”

It’s premature to add any larger context to this moment outside of the Texas State game. But what it does supply is a small glimpse into what ULM football could be in the future.

“The reason that plays like that are important is so people can see that they can come here and play like that,” Louis said. “We work hard for this 24/7 and we expect to win every game.

“Things haven’t gone our way every time we’ve stepped on the field but what’s important is that we come back each time and keep going.”

Louis wasn’t the only freshman participating in the Texas State youth movement.

Pressed into action at quarterback, all redshirt freshman Will Collins did was fire two touchdown passes and keep the offense from careening into a ditch late in the game.

True freshman tight end Kyle Nevels was on the receiving end on one of Collins’ touchdown throws — the first of his career. Running back Duke Carter, another true freshman, also scored his first touchdown and helped keep the clock moving with a game-high 123 yards on 24 carries.

Injuries forced this core of redshirts and first-year green gills to grow up on the fly, especially Collins after starter Garrett Smith left the game. For one night at least, youth gave way to grit and pulled ULM out of a four-game losing skid.

“It’s not necessarily the young guys in general,” said Collins, who will make his first career start at New Mexico on Saturday.

“We’re playing for a brand new staff and it took some time to get comfortable, but we’re growing and it’s amazing to watch.”

Matt Viator made a promise to the Warhawks when he was hired as ULM’s coach that he wasn’t going to let rebuilding the program get in the way of winning. The byproduct of his words have more first-time starters in the lineup than any coach would like, but one that could be beneficial moving forward.

“We owe it to these seniors to do that and it just happens that some of the guys that are making plays are younger guys,” Viator said.

While the Texas State game was Viator’s first Sun Belt Conference win at ULM, what he enjoyed the most was watching the Warhawks celebrate instead of reflecting on personal accolades.

“Our job to give them that opportunity and put them in the right places. The losses to Georgia Southern and Idaho are on us because there were a couple more things we could have done to help them out,” Viator said.

“We’re playing hard and I’m happy for them after two close ones to win. I know we made it interesting but that’s all I care about is getting the win.”